Muslim Firsts
Contemporary Muslims in the US and the
world who made or are making a
difference.
Javed Mohammed
Writer-Producer
Writer-
k2film@live.com
Changing the world one story at a time
Copyright 2009

Disclaimer
All images are obtained from the
public domain and are the
copyrights of the respective
holders. This document and all
its other content and claims are
copyright of Javed Mohammed
Copyright 2009.
Although every care has been
taken to research and present
accurate information, some
Muslim firsts are not well
documented and others maybe
subjective.
This presentation is not and
cannot cover all
accomplishments of Muslims in
America or the world. It is a
small effort to share and inspire.
The writer/producer of this media
content bears no responsibility to
any claims made.

Why: Muslim Firsts?
There is a lot of negativity around
Muslims in America and the world.
We all need heroes past and present
What follows is a sample of
Contemporary Muslims who have
made headlines or a difference to
the wider community.
They made a difference and so can
you.

US Muslim Firsts
Politics
Science
Business
Community
Sports
Arts, Music, Literature

First President to be elected with
a Muslim name: 2009
Barack Hussein Obama
Note: President Obama’s recognized faith is Christianity

First Muslim to give opening prayer
in Congress: 1991
Imam Siraj Wahaj

First Muslim elected to US
Congress: Keith Ellison, 2006
Took oath on Quran belonging to founding father, Thomas Jefferson

First Muslim woman & hijabi in
President Obama’s administration:
Dalia Mogahed, 2009
Dalia led the Gallup American Center for Muslim Studies

First Muslim Co-Founder, Largest
American-Muslim Civil Rights
Organization: Omar Ahmad
CAIR: Council on American Islamic Relations

First Muslims to Co-Produce a
PBS Nationally broadcast
Program: Michael Wolfe & Alex
Kronemer
Michael Alex
Wolfe Kronemer

First Afghan-American to write a
Best-seller: Khaled Hosseini
Over 10 Million copies of Kite Runner sold

First American-Muslim Producer &
Director of Epic films:
Moustapha Akkad
Directed “The Message”, “The Lion of the Desert”
and Halloween series

First Woman President of largest
American-Islamic Organization
ISNA: Dr. Ingrid Mattson

First Muslim-American woman in
space: Anousheh Ansari

First Nobel Prize in Chemistry
by an American-Muslim 1999:
Ahmed H. Zewail
“For his studies of the transition states of chemical reactions
using femtosecond spectroscopy\"

First Muslim Civil Rights leader:
Malcolm X

First Muslim structural engineer to
build tallest US building: Sears
Tower: Dr. Fazlur Rahman Khan

First Muslim Woman to Become a
Michigan State Representative:
Rashida Talib

First Muslim chaplain at Marine
Corps: Abuhena Saifulislam

First Muslim entrepreneur to go
IPO: Safi Qureshey
Co-founder and former CEO of AST Research (a
top 10 major PC Computer manufacturer in 1990s)
and a former member of President Clinton's Export
Council.

First mainstream Muslim
comedian: Dave Chappelle

First Person & Muslim to win the
heavy weight boxing championship
3 times: Muhammad Ali
Also the first person to have his title stripped away for
Being a Conscientious Objector

First player and Muslim to win
highest points total of any NBA
player in league history (38,387)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The first Muslim on an NBA team winning back-to-back NBA
championships 6 MVPs, 6 NBA NBA championships and
patented skyhook

Muslim Firsts from the rest of
the World
Politics
Science
Business
Community
Sports
Arts, Music, Literature

First Muslim Peer in House of
Lords, 1998
Lord Nazir Ahmed

Canada's First Muslim Woman
MP, 2004: Yasmin Ratansi

First woman elected to lead a
Muslim state, Prime Minister of
Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto (1988-90;
1993–1996)
Assassinated in 2007 on verge of 3rd election

First “Banker to the poor” &
Inventor of Micro-loans:
Muhammad Yunus
Nobel Peace prize winner, 2006 with GRAMEEN BANK
for their efforts to create economic and social development
from below.

First Muslim astronaut in space,
1985: Prince Sultan bin Salman

First Muslim Doctor & Malaysian in
space, 2007: Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar
Shukor
(Prayed and kept Ramadan Fast in while in space)

First Muslim to win Nobel Peace
Prize, in 2005 for his work on
preventing nuclear proliferation
Mohamed Elbaradei
“With IAEA for efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being
used for military purposes and for safe nuclear energy use.”

First Muslim to win Nobel Peace
Prize, for work on democracy and
human rights in 2003:
Shirin Ibadi
“For her efforts on democracy and human rights”

First Muslim director nominated
for Academy Award for Best
Foreign Language Film:
Majid Majidi

First Muslim to win Nobel prize for
Literature in 1988:
Naguib Mahfouz

First Muslim women to climb Mt.
Everest: Farkhondeh Sadegh &
Laleh Keshavarz

First elected Turkish-Muslim MP
with hijab prevented from taking
oath:
Merve Kavakçı, 1999

First French Muslim to help
France win 1998 FIFA World cup:
Zinedine Zidane
Helped France reach the 2006 World Cup Finals
and recognized by Pele as one of the all-time greats in 2004

First African-Muslim Player to win
back-to-back NBA Championships:
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon

First Muslim athlete to ever take
part in an Olympics wearing a
hijab: Ruqaya Al Ghasara
Ruqaya was from Bahrain,… and she won

First Muslim cricket-player to hit the
fastest one day international century
(37 balls), in 1998 Shahid Afridi
Also 2nd highest runs in an over: Sequence 6-6-6-6-2-1

First Muslim Squash player with
longest winning streak:
Jahangir Khan
6 World Opens, 10 British Opens and unbeaten from 1981-
1986, 555 consecutive matches

World Record for Mile:
Hicham El Guerrouj: 3:43:13
July 7, 1999, Rome
Hicham is from Morocco. Previous record held by
Noureddin Morceli (Algeria)

First Muslim Bullfighter in Spain:
Mehdi Savalli

Australia's first female Muslim
lifeguard: Mecca Laalaa

First English-Muslim Pop-Singer:
to hit multiple #1-hits.
Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam)
As Cat Stevens, he has sold over 60 million albums
around the world since the late 1960s

First Muslim to win 2 Oscars, 2009:
Allah Rakha (A. R.) Rahman

First Miss Arab World Contest:
2007: Wafaa Yaakoub
A beauty pagaent won by a hijabi

First Afghan to don most popular
cover for National Geographic:
Sharbat Gula

Conclusion: Muslim Firsts
Although some of these people may be famous, rich, or had God-given
gifts, each and everyone had to struggle to make their
mark. What is your vision, who is your inspiration, what are
you waiting for? Time is the greatest asset we have: Use it or lose it.
Now go make a difference
Javed Mohammed, Salam and Peace be with you.

References
WikiPedia
The Web
The Muslim community in the US
Reference Librarians in Milpitas and
Sunnyvale, CA
MyFavoriteReview.com
SlideShare:
Muslim Cinema
From Hollywood to Bollywood
Muslims and Media
CultureWars.org.uk (search javed mohammed)